ANAHEIM, Calif. - Luke Walton had a chance to play with his well-known
father on hand, along with his father's famous college coach.

The younger Walton did himself proud.

Walton had 17 points, a career-high 13 rebounds and six assists Saturday to
lead No. 7 Arizona to a 79-66 victory over Purdue.

The game at Anaheim Arena was the opener of the eighth John R. Wooden
Classic, named for the 91-year-old former UCLA coach who guided the Bruins to
10 NCAA championships in a 12-year span ending with his retirement in 1975.

No. 20 UCLA faced No. 16 Alabama in the nightcap.

Bill Walton led the Bruins to two NCAA championships in the early 1970s
before an outstanding NBA career, and is now a television color commentator.

"I think Luke's exactly the type of player coach Wooden loves to watch,"
Arizona coach Lute Olson said. "He's so unselfish, and plays all aspects of
the game."

Walton, a 6-foot-8 junior, said it was an honor to be involved in anything
Wooden is a part of, and added: "I grew up listening to what he told my
father."

After taking a look at the boxscore, Walton poked a little fun at himself,
saying: "I'm just upset nobody told me I had eight turnovers. Two more and I
could have had a triple-double."

The Wildcats (5-1) committed 20 turnovers to only 13 for the Boilermakers,
but a 49-28 rebounding advantage made that a moot point.

"Their rebounding just dominated us," said Purdue coach Gene Keady, who
remained stuck at 499 career victories including 19 during the 1995-96 season
that were forfeited because of NCAA rules violations. "That was a big key, the
boards."

Rick Anderson had 17 points and nine rebounds, and Jason Gardner added 14
points and five assists for the Wildcats, who took command early in avenging a
loss to the Boilermakers last season.

Reserve Willie Deane led Purdue (5-3) with 19 points. Darmetreis Kilgore and
Joe Marshall added 11 each for the Boilermakers, who had their three-game
winning streak snapped.

Maynard Lewis, who entered as Purdue's leading scorer with a 14.4-point
average, was held to six points - all in the second half.

Arizona, vulnerable at times defensively this season, did an excellent job
in that area and dominated the backboards in an impressive first half.

The Wildcats outrebounded Purdue 31-12, and made 22 of 39 shots (56.4
percent) in rolling to a 49-30 halftime lead. The Boilermakers hit only 10 of
33 shots (30.3 percent) in the opening 20 minutes.

"I think that was probably one of our best halves of basketball," Olson
said. "I thought Jason's leadership and the board play of Ricky and Luke in
the first half really set the tone for us.

"Twenty-one more rebounds, that's something they're obviously going to have
to get corrected."

Marshall agreed with that assessment.

"Basically, we've got to come together and say, `We're not going to win a
game unless we rebound.' Hopefully, this game will make us listen to coach,"
Marshall said. "He's been through it."

Keady said in a set offense, his team is generally supposed to pass the ball
at least five or six times before taking a shot.

"We were 1.6 passes at the half," he added.

Walton made three straight baskets to give Arizona a 12-6 lead, and the
Wildcats were on top the rest of the way.

The Boilermakers went six minutes without a field goal before a layup by
Marshall, but Gardner made a 3-point shot to extended Arizona's lead to 25-9
after nine minutes.

Baskets by Salim Stoudamire, Gardner and Will Bynum put the Wildcats ahead
43-19 before Purdue went on an 11-6 run to finish the half.

Purdue outscored Arizona 21-8 to draw within 10 points, but Walton scored
five points to spark an 11-0 Arizona run, making it 75-54. Purdue went on a
12-4 spurt to finish the game.